Shoe rack



Aug; 17, 1937.

P. s. M MICHAEL 2,089,975

SHOE RACK Filed Sept. 19, 1935 INVENTOR. I A UL J: McMaI-MEL ATTORNEYPatented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STATES steam PATENT OFFICE.

SHOE RACK Paul S. MacMichael, Seattle, Wash.

Application September 19, 1935, Serial No. 41,237

8 Claims. (Cl. 12-128.

This invention relates to shoetrees and. racks therefor, adapted for usegenerally as a working combination.

Some of the objects of my invention are to provide a simply constructedshoe tree which may be workably mounted on a suitable rack adapted tocarry a plurality of such trees compactly spaced with the treed shoespreferably occupying a generally vertical position with their soles andheels adjacent a supporting wall, and, to be able to maintain saidposition without the use of springs. The rack also serves to preventundesirable contact between treed shoes and clothes which may be nearby.

Other objects are to have a mounted shoetree flexibly or pivotallymovable to facilitate the operation of treeing a shoe thereon, saidmovement first bringing said tree into a relatively non-interferingtreeing position in respect to adjacent closely spaced trees and thesupporting wall, and second, providing for the easy free shifting oftheir relative angular positions as said shoe is brought into positionon said tree, a detachably mounted tree being. provided so that any rackmay. readily be equipped withtrees of any desired size.

My invention also consists in certain new and original features ofconstruction and combination of parts as hereinafter set forth andclaimed.

Although the novel features which are believed tobecharacteristic ofthis invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appendedhereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, and themanner inwhich it may be carried out, may be better understood byreference.

construction.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 5 with the axle in dotted line.

Likerrefe'rence'characters denote like parts in the various figures ofthe drawing.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specificationcertain specific dis closureof the invention is made for the purpose ofexplanation; but it will be understood that the details may be modifiedin various respects without departing from the broad. spirit of theinvention.

Referring to the drawing, a shoetree I has a toe piece 2, a heel piece3,.and. a flexible resilient shank 4 shown inits free form at Mt (seeFig. 2) and its flexed form at 4b (see Fig. 3). Said shank 4 hasformedin it a resilient hub 5 provided with an expansible opening 6whereby it canbe snapped onto the supporting .axle l. Said hub 5 isshown its free form in Fig. 6 having an. axial diameter in the space 8somewhat less than the diameter ofthe axle I so that when the hub 5 isin expanded position on said axle l (see Fig. 5) it grips said axle withan elastic spring pressure tending frictionally to resist relativerotational movement on said axle l.

Opposite the hub opening 6 is an elongated hub part 9 which provides fora greater range of resilient expansion affecting the hub opening 6, andalso. by breaking. the continuity of contact between the hub 5 and theaxle l prevents an excessive frictional resistance such as is. obtainedin. the well-known. circular brake band.

Withthe tree shank 4 in the unfiexed position 4a (see Fig. 2), theresilient hub pressure on the axle I is only that due to the spring.pressure naturally developed inv the hub itself, and is ample to-supportthe tree 1! stationary in a predetermined position as shown in Fig. 2.When the shank 4 isflexedto the position 4b (see Fig. 3) the gripping:action of the hub 5 on the axle I is increased due to the pressure inthe flexed shank 4 tending to close the hub opening 6 and thereby isprovided a useful additional gripping effect aiding in the support ofthetreed shoe in' its normal position adjacent the wall l6 (see Fig. 3).

Said axle 1 has a reduced diameter l2 near each end (see Fig. 1) for thepassage thereover of the hub 5 with less forced e'xpansion than wouldotherwise be required, said hub 5 with the tree I then being moved alongthe axle l to its spaced position thereon to be held longitudinally insaid position by the snap rings l3 placed on' the axle 1 and resilientlygripping said axle on each side of each hub 5 thereon. The rack M as awhole, preferably made in a single piece, comprises an axle 1, adaptedto support a plurality of trees I, carried by the angle wall brackets 55and may be screwed on a; supporting wall H5.

The toe piece 2 having a cross-sectional shape generally like its rearend 21' has a' bottom 22 with a forward sled-runner curved part 23adapting it to glide readily into a shoe El.

With the hub resiliently gripping the axle 1, the tree I is normallysupported in any predetermined angular position in which it may beplaced, relative to the axle 1, which position for the empty tree maysuitably be that shown in Fig. 2.

To tree a shoe, the tree will be rotated to the general position 32 (seeFig. 2) and the shoe 3| placed thereon so the parts occupy the generalposition indicated at am (see Fig. 3). The tree shank 4 is flexed as at4b when in the shoe. The tree I is then manually rotated back to itsnormal shoe-carrying position (see Fig. 3), the shoe heel 33 being movedon the are 34 until the shoe sole 35 is adjacent the wall I6, in whichposition it will then be supported by said frictional gripping effect.

The axle I is spaced out from the wall a dis- 7 tance adapted to permitof a limited rotation of a treed shoe in the manner described, saidtreed shoe normally occupying the space generally between said wall [6and the line I! passing vertically through said axle I.

For removing a shoe substantially the reverse of the above operationtakes place, the shoe on the tree being rotated forward toward agenerally horizontal position, the shoe being removed and the tree thenpreferably being manually rotated to the position in Fig. 3.

Some of the novel features and advantages of my invention will now bepointed out.

In order to provide a compact storage in the limited space generallyavailable, the shoe trees are mounted on a rack in spaced positions andnormally are preferably to be held with their toe pieces close to thewall. Such close compact spacing makes it impractical to tree or de-treeshoes conveniently from immovable trees and especially when they are tobe treed in the preferred position with the soles of the shoes towardthe wall and close thereto. I have therefor devised a tree adapted to bemovably carried on a support so that each tree independently may bemoved or rotated into an accessible convenient treeing positionpractically non-interfering as regards the supporting wall or any shoeson adjacent trees, for which purpose a pivotal mounting of the tree isuseful whether the axis of said pivot is generally parallel to the depthof a shoe in place or parallel to its width, or at some other anglethereto.

During the act of treeing a shoe,'various parts of, or places on saidtree will assume constantly changing angles relative to its other partsand also relative to the shoe being placed thereon. Where the user, withone hand, is handling a tree detached from any rack, and is handling ashoe with his other hand, these constantly changing relative angles arereadily accommodated manually. If a tree is rigidly mounted at somepoint 60 thereof in fixed position on a rack, it becomes an inconvenientand awkward operation to tree a shoe on account of said rigid mounting,but

I have discovered that by mounting a tree pivotally on an axis generallyparallel to the shoe 65 width of said tree, a shoe may easily andconveniently be treed thereon.

In my preferred construction therefor, I use a tree mounted with its hubhaving a rotational axis generally parallel to the width of a treed 70shoe as aforesaid, said axis being positioned to pass across the shoeupper near its heel end. When the shoe is thus treed to rotate freely onsaid axis, the shoe sole and heel or shoe bottom will gravitate to agenerally inclined plane at 75 an angle about half-way between thevertical and the horizontal. To cause the treed shoe to re main in agenerally vertical position in which it may be placed adjacent the wall,I provide a frictional pivotal mounting or hub on the tree whichelastically grips the supporting axle, said gripping effect beingautomatically increased by the pressure of the shank 4 when a shoe istreed on said tree. My preferred shoetree is provided with a one-pieceflexible resilient shank 4 in which said resilient hub 5 is formed. Thecircumferential opening 6 in said hub permits of its elastic expansionrelative to its axial diameter 8, and also provides for transmission ofpressure along the shank 4 into said hub, and further provides means forreadily snapping said hub onto the axle 1.

The toe-piece, I provide with a curved up sled-runner forward bottompart adapted to be passed into a shoe with a gliding action rather thantending to dig into the insole.

The tree as a whole is simple in construction and is adapted for use incombination with my rack or for ordinary detached use.

The shoetree rack is adapted to carry a plurality of pivotally mountedtrees in spaced posi-, tion and in combination with the snap ringcollars 13 mounted thereon, to provide means for maintaining the spacedposition of said trees. The rack axle serves as a protection to preventadjacent clothes from contacting with treed shoes. I have referred to awall as a convenient place for supporting my rack, a door also beingappropriate but the rack or its axle only may be suspended or carriednon-rotatably from any available supporting means by obvious appropriatemodifications.

While I have shown and described a preferred construction for a shoetreeand rack combination, I have found that the various details may bemodified in various ways and still fall within the broad spirit of myinvention and I wish to maintain all my rights to such modificationslimited only as set forth in the claims appended herewith.

For instance, the hub 5 may be made as a separate part adapted for theattachment thereto of a shoetree. Different designs of shoetrees may beused in the general mode herein set forth. The device may be arranged onsimilar principles to support the treed shoe either with the heel upported at some other than the generally vertical angle herein describedas preferable. In various places herein, I use terms such as pivotalmounting, hub and axle. These terms all relate to a construction whereina pin, shaft or pivot engages with a generally encircling bearing orhub, providing for relative rotary motion about a generally fixed axialline. In principle, whether the hub part is on the stationary or themovable part, relative to the axle being on the other engaging part, isa matter of obvious mechanical equivalent. .By appropriate modificationto the arrangement herein shown to bring the pivotal axis closer to avertical line through the center of gravity of the treed positionedshoe, the frictional positioning means may be made less strong and stillserve its purpose. These and other modifications or variations of theprinciples of my invention are intended to be covered in my.

claims.

I claim:

1. In a shoe rack, the combination of a supporting member, a shoetreepivotally mounted thereon, said shoetree having a heel piece, a toe 1.50or with the toe up, or the treed shoe may be suppiece and a shankconnecting them, said shank having thereon a friction member whichprovides the pivotal mounting and the means for holding the shoetree ina predetermined position.

2. In a shoe rack, the combination of a supporting member, a shoetreepivotally mounted thereon, said shoetree having a heel piece, a toepiece and a shank connecting them, said shank having formed therein afriction member which provides the pivotal mounting and the means forholding the shoetree in a predetermined position.

3. In a shoe rack, the combination of a shoetree device, a hubattachedto said tree for its ivotal support, a supporting non-rotating axle forsaid tree, and means for establishing a frictional engagement betweensaid tree and said axle whereby they will maintain a manuallyestablished relative rotary position substantially independent ofgravitational pull.

4. In a shoe rack, the combination of a shoetree device comprising a toepiece, a heel piece, and a shank connecting said pieces with a hubformed in said shank for its pivotal support, a supporting non-rotatingaxle for said shank hub, and means for establishing a frictionalengagement between said hub and said axle whereby they will maintain amanually established relative rotary position substantially independentof gravitational pull.

5. In a shoe rack, the combination of a supporting shaft, and ashoetree, comprising a toe piece, a heel piece, and a flexible resilientshank adapted to maintain pressure between said toe and heel pieces witha shoe treed thereon, having a resilient open loop hub formed thereinadapted for resilient frictional pressure on said supporting shaft, allsaid parts of said tree being so arranged that treeing a shoe thereonstresses said resilient shank thereby increasing the resilient pressuretending to close said open loop hub and increasing its frictionalresistance to relative rotary motion on said supporting shaft.

6. A shoetree and rack combination comprising a supporting axle, ashoetree with a pivotal hub generally fitting said axle, a narrowopening through one side leading to the center of said hub, a part of.said axle of reduced cross-section adapted to pass through said narrowhub opening whereby said hub may be brought into working position onsaid axle, and means for maintaining said longitudinal position.

7. A shoetree and rack combination comprising a supporting axle, ashoetree with a pivotal hub generally fitting said axle, a narrowopening through one side leading to the center of said hub, a part ofsaid axle of reduced cross-section adapted to pass through said narrowhub opening whereby said hub may be brought into working position onsaid axle, and means for maintaining said longitudinal positioncomprising a slightly open resilient ring adapted to grip said axleadjacent said longitudinally positioned tree.

8. A shoetree comprising a toe piece and a heel piece directly connectedby a resilient shank piece, and a resilient part thereon which providesfor the pivotal mounting of said tree on an axle whereon the tree may beheld in. a predetermined position by resilient pressure exertable bysaid resilient mounting member, said member having a generallyencircling form extending for substantially more than a one half circlefor retaining engagement with an axle and being provided with anexpansible circumferential opening leading into said generally encircledspace.

PAUL S. MACMICHAEL.

